The Grand Prix of Las Vegas was a sports car race held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway near Las Vegas, Nevada. It began as an IMSA GT Championship event in 1997, and became an American Le Mans Series event in 1999. It has not been held since 2000.
Year | Overall Winner(s) | Entrant | Car | Distance/Duration | Race Title | Report | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IMSA GT Championship | |||||||
1997 | John Paul Jr. Butch Leitzinger | Dyson Racing | Riley & Scott Mk III-Ford | 2 hours | Sportscar Grand Prix presented by FAO Schwarz | report | [1] |
1998 | Wayne Taylor Eric van de Poele | Doyle-Risi Racing | Ferrari 333SP | 3 hours, 45 minutes | Toshiba Copiers and Fax Nevada Grand Prix | report | [2] |
American Le Mans Series | |||||||
1999 | JJ Lehto Steve Soper | BMW Motorsport | BMW V12 LMR | 2 hours, 45 minutes | Grand Prix of Las Vegas | report | [3] |
2000 | Frank Biela Emanuele Pirro | Audi Sport North America | Audi R8 | 2 hours, 45 minutes | Grand Prix of Las Vegas presented by enjoythedrive.com | report | [4] |
Laguna Seca Raceway is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, United States.
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is a multi-track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville, in Ontario, Canada, 64 km (40 mi) east of Toronto. The facility features a 3.957-kilometre (2.459 mi), 10-turn road course; a 2.9-kilometre (1.8 mi) advance driver and race driver training facility with a 0.40-kilometre skid pad and a 1.5-kilometre (0.93 mi) kart track. The name "Mosport", a portmanteau of Motor Sport, came from the enterprise formed to build the track.
Homestead–Miami Speedway is a motor racing track located in Homestead, Florida. The track, which has several configurations, has promoted several series of racing, including NASCAR, the IndyCar Series, the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series, and the Championship Cup Series.
The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive director of SCCA, and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France Sr. of NASCAR. Beginning in 2014, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the premier series resulting from the merger of Grand-Am Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series. IMSA is owned by NASCAR, as a division of the company.
Lime Rock Park is a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States, a hamlet in the town of Salisbury, in the state's northwest corner. Built in 1956, it is the nation's third oldest continuously operating road racing venue, behind Road America (1955) and Willow Springs International Motorsports Park (1953). The track is owned by Skip Barber, a former race car driver who started the Skip Barber Racing School in 1975. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a 1,200-acre (490 ha) complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
John Andrew Andretti was an American race car driver. He won individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR during his career. He was the son of Aldo Andretti, older brother of racer Adam Andretti, nephew of Mario Andretti, and first cousin to IndyCar champion Michael and Jeff Andretti.
Road Atlanta is a 2.540-mile (4.088 km) road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur sports car and motorcycle races, racing and driving schools, corporate programs and testing for motorsports teams. The track has 12 turns, including the famous "esses" between turns three and five; and Turn 12, a downhill, diving turn. The track is owned by IMSA Holdings, LLC through its subsidiary Road Atlanta, LLC, and is the home to the Petit Le Mans, as well as AMA motorcycle racing, and smaller events throughout the year. Michelin acquired naming rights to the facility in 2018.
John Lee Paul Jr. was an American racing driver. He competed in CART and the Indy Racing League competitions, but primarily in IMSA GT Championship, winning the title in 1982.
The 1999 Grand Prix of Mosport was an American Le Mans Series professional sports car race held at Mosport International Raceway near Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada from June 25 to the 27, 1999. The race was the third round of the inaugural American Le Mans Series season, replacing the former Professional SportsCar Racing Championship that previously held the Grand Prix beginning in 1975. The race marked the 14th IMSA / Professional SportsCar Racing sanctioned sports car race held at the facility.
The Six Hours of Watkins Glen is a sports car endurance race held annually at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. The race dates from 1948, and has been a part of the SCCA National Sports Car Championship, United States Road Racing Championship, World Sportscar Championship, IMSA GT Championship, Rolex Sports Car Series and currently the United SportsCar Championship.
Las Vegas Grand Prix may refer to several auto races held in the Las Vegas Valley:
The Trans-Am Series, Rolex Sports Car Series, and American Le Mans Series have all held races in the Miami area.
The Grand Prix of Charlotte is a sports car race held at the infield road course of the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The race was held sporadically in the 1970s by the IMSA GT Championship and also the revamped Can-Am series. IMSA held five straight races beginning in 1982. The race was revived in 2000 by the American Le Mans Series for one year.
The Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix is an annual IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race held every July or August at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. The race originated in 1975 and is currently a two hour and forty minute race in order to fit the event into a television-friendly package. Previous editions of the Grand Prix were part of the World Sportscar Championship, the American Le Mans Series and the IMSA GT Championship.
The Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America is a sports car race held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The event began in 1950, and in 1951 was added to the SCCA National Sports Car Championship. Following a spectator death at the 1952 Watkins Glen Grand Prix, racing on open roads was discouraged, and the race went into hiatus until 1955, when a permanent circuit was opened. In 1963, the race shifted to the new United States Road Racing Championship, until the USRRC's demise in 1968. After an 11-year hiatus, the IMSA GT Championship revived the event in 1979. In 1988, IMSA shortened the race to 500 kilometres (310 mi), and again in 1991 to 300 kilometres (190 mi). The race was shortened to 2 hours in 1992. After a return to a 500-km distance, the race was cancelled in 1994. It was revived once again in 2000, by the Grand American Road Racing Championship, to a 500-mile distance. The race was an American Le Mans Series event from 2002 until 2013, run at varying race distances of either 2 hours and 45 minutes or 4 hours. In 2014 the race joined the schedule of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship after the merger of the American Le Mans Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series.
The Argo P was a sports prototype racing car, built by Argo Racing Cars in 1997 for the IMSA GT Championship. The car used a naturally-aspirated 4-litre BMW V8 engine throughout its racing life. The car proved to be uncompetitive, and its fastest race laps were frequently well off the pace of the other runners.
The Courage C41 was a sports prototype racing car built by Courage Compétition in 1994, and used in international sports car races from 1995 until 1999. Designed by Paolo Catone, it initially used a 5-litre Chevrolet V8 engine, developed by Comptech, and later used the 3-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six engine from a Porsche 935, as well as an Oldsmobile V8. In 1998, two of the C41s were developed into the Courage C51, which used a 3-litre twin-turbocharged Nissan VRH35Z V8 engine, and was used in that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1999, the C41s were mostly converted to the C52 specification ; this initially used a 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged Nissan VRH35L V8, which was then replaced by a 3.2-litre twin-turbocharged Peugeot A32 V6 engine for 2000. In 2000, the C41 line was replaced by the new C60.
This page documents some of the events that happened in motorsport in the 1990s.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to motorsport across the world, mirroring its impact across all sports. Across the world and to varying degrees, events and competitions have been cancelled or postponed.